


Never Again

by CrazyJ



Category: GOT7
Genre: Broken Communication, Decisions for Two, Former Lovers - Freeform, GOT7_TAROT_19, Idols, Internalized Homophobia, Lovers to enemies to lovers, M/M, Tension, You’re An Idiot Jackson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 14:29:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20047573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrazyJ/pseuds/CrazyJ
Summary: When Jackson left Mark's bed all those years ago, he never looked back. Now, Jackson is revisiting the biggest mistake he ever made in hopes of righting the wrong that's haunted him for years.





	Never Again

**Author's Note:**

> Card: Reverse Two of Cups

The body underneath him writhed as he pushed in, groaning at the moan that slipped out of both of their lips as he seated himself fully. 

Pulling his hips back and snapping them forward with fervour, Jackson bit his lip in annoyance as his partner moaned far louder than necessary, small pitiful whimpers slipping through as an incessant stream of words flowed through their lips. Turning to look at the mirror on his left, Jackson found himself looking his partner up and down, their body lithe, abs on full display, thighs thick, arms bulky, though the whimpers were anything but masculine and Jackson found himself praying for silence as he chased his release. 

Closing his eyes to block out the sight of the man beneath him, Jackson found his mind wandering, back to the day when he’d had another man underneath him, his body smaller like his, but toned, arms quivering as they tried to hold their owner’s weight up. Eyelashes fluttered in the mirror across from the bed as his then partner gasped at the feeling of being filled for the first time, at the feeling of his lover and the one he loved making love to him, with him, _ for him, _at the feeling of knowing that what they had was real.

A punched out gasp slipped through his lips as Jackson forcefully returned himself to the present, actively pushing the image of _ his _face from his mind, the image of pure bliss that had etched itself upon his features as they had moved together burned into the back of his eyelids.

Gripping his partner’s hips, Jackson shifted off the bed, pulling the other back with him so he was on the edge, using his new position to piston into the man who’s name he hadn’t even gotten, who’s presence in his bed was a self-satisfying venture for release and nothing more. 

“J-Jackson,” the man whimpered, voice needy. “Touch me please.” 

“Touch yourself for me baby,” Jackson countered, closing his eyes again as he did, the words staining his tongue as he uttered them. “Show me how good it feels.” 

Opening his eyes, Jackson watched as the man desperately tugged at his cock, frantically tugging his hand across his member as he searched for his release, Jackson realizing belatedly that this was the first time he had even looked at that part of the other man since they had started, using his thoughts to tune out the string of words falling from the other’s lips.

He could tell the other was getting close as he felt tightening muscles squeeze his own aching cock, eyes rolling back at the now familiar feeling of finding his release in any willing body, his need for privacy waning as the years since that night had gone by, the need to cleanse his mind of that memory winning out over any sense of desire or respect. 

And yet, as the man beneath him yelped as he came into his fist, as the building pressure spilled over and he followed behind a few thrusts later, as he dropped down onto the bed with apologetic words that their time was spent and they’d have to go their separate ways, as he let the man out of the room closing the door quickly behind him, all he could think about even after all this time was ** _him. _ **

***

Jackson entered the conference room a few minutes after everyone else, having come directly from the airport, quietly taking a seat at the end of the table, the rest of the members focused intently on the screen at the front of the room as their manager outlined the plan for their next comeback tour, not hearing him come in.

Ingesting the details of the number of stops they had booked, travel days, practice days, off days, Jackson found his attention wandering, settling as it so often did on the man farthest from him, side profile stunningly illuminated by the projector.

“Sounds fun,” said man remarked, laughter bright with excitement as he looked around the room, gaze settling on a sheepish Jackson, the latter of which who felt bile rise up in his throat at the sight of the other man’s eyes dimming when he noticed his presence. “Oh, hey Jackson.”

“Hey,” Jackson answered gruffly, clearing his throat awkwardly and turning away from the pitying looks from the other five members, no one knowing what exactly had happened to the pair, just that one day they had been madly in love, closer than anything and the next day, as distant as the Earth and the Sun.

“Hi Jackson!” Yugyeom spoke after a brief awkward pause, standing from his chair and striding towards him, pulling the older man into his arms as Jackson stood in time for the hug. “Missed you!”

“Missed you too, Gyeomie.” 

“Hey man, what’s uuuuup?!” BamBam shouted to alert the two of his incoming presence a moment later, only giving Jackson a seconds breather before he was being engulfed in five feet, eleven inches of Thai instead of the six feet of Maknae he’d held before.

“Not much man, just got in, came straight from the airport.”

“Alright, alright, good flight I hope?” 

“No complaints here,” Jackson smiled, though if anyone noticed that it didn’t reach his eyes, they didn’t say anything.

“Jackson!” Youngjae’s voice boomed as he waited his turn, the former turning to find him literally bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation before launching himself at him once his arms were free, burying his face in Jackson’s neck despite being the taller of the two.

“Hi Youngjae,” Jackson chuckled, heart feeling warm despite the icy expression of their eldest who hadn’t shifted positions since noticing him. “After all these years and still the same reaction every time you see me after a longer period away.”

“It’s been five months Hyung!”

“Youngjae, we FaceTimed last week!” 

“But it’s not the same as in person,” the younger whined, lips pouting. “I missed you.”

“Missed you too, you adorable otter.” 

“My turn,” a voice chided from their side, Jackson pulling back from their main vocalist to find Jinyoung standing there with an impatient expression stretched across his features, arms folded over his chest. 

“Hi Jinyoung,” Jackson flushed, stepping forward and gingerly stepping into the younger’s arms. “I love you?” 

“Tsk tsk, Jackson,” Jinyoung scolded, ignoring the confused looks from the other members as he pulled him in. “Missing our date night the other day and then not telling me you were coming today? I thought you got in next week?” 

“Nah, wanted to get back to you guys, didn’t sit right that I was doing solo work when it’s always been us 7 first, decided to cut the trip short to get back here and back to working on the right things.” Looking down, Jackson winced as he heard the quiet scoff from the other end of the table, knowing it was coming, though the knowledge did little to lessen the blow of the impact.

“Well, I’m glad you made it,” Jinyoung smiled, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder that lasted a beat too long before he was stepping back to allow Jaebum access.

“Hey Hyung,” Jackson started, stepping into the hug and hiding his face in JB’s shoulder to avoid making eye contact with the man behind them, having come closer at some point during the last few moments. 

“Good to see you Jackson,” Jaebum said quietly, keeping his voice between them. “Youngjae’s right, it’s been way too long.”

“Yeah it has,” Jackson conceded, gripping onto the elder just a little bit tighter to delay the inevitable slight that was about to occur, huffing a sigh when Jaebum’s 10-second limit of intimacy with another human expired.

“You’re back,” Mark said bluntly as JB stepped away and the pair came face-to-face for the first time in almost half a year, this being only the third time they had spoken in that time, both other times being obligatory holiday greetings over text and nothing remotely close to personal. 

“Yeah,” Jackson answered lamely, clearing his throat to push away the blockage that had developed at the mere sight of the older man who was standing before him. 

“Couldn’t have given us a head’s up?” Mark asked crossly, face and tone stern, Jackson barely managing to keep his flinch internal, though he suspected based on the raised brow of the elder that he hadn’t been entirely successful in doing so. 

“Last minute decision, didn’t even tell management I was coming.” 

“Sounds like you, always making decisions for others,” Mark bit back, expression stony as Jackson visibly recoiled from the second hit, decidedly deserved, but no less hurtful all the same. 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jackson stuttered out, already the smallest person in the room, but now feeling infinitely smaller as he looked down at his shoes, belatedly noticing a mark on the toe from where he had been absentmindedly scuffing them against the staircase earlier as he tried to will himself to come in when he had first gotten here.

“Jackson,” another voice called out, pulling his attention up to find his manager staring at him with a complicated expression, arms folded over his stomach. “Welcome back.” 

“Thanks Hyung.” A beat passed while Jackson waited for more, realizing after a moment that nothing else was coming, turning to look at Mark who was also staring at him with a complicated expression, one that Jackson couldn’t even attempt to decode now that it had been so long since the two had been _ whatever it was _they had been, no longer even friends. 

“We should go for lunch or something?” Yugyeom suggested as another tense silence settled upon the group as it always did when Mark and Jackson interacted, though neither man was willing to speak about what had transpired between them all those years ago, even to this day. 

“I’m sorry, I, uh, made plans already,” Jackson started, rubbing at the back of his head, making sure to shift his beanie back in place after accidentally dislodging it with his motions. “I figured since you didn’t know I was coming you’d have already made other plans.” 

“Typical,” Mark scoffed at the same time that BamBam pointed out they’d always make room for their favourite Jackson. 

“Yeah,” Jackson repeated again, defaulting to the most basic of responses to keep the words of apology he kept stored there for the eldest from slipping off his tongue. 

“I expect you all back here tomorrow at 8 then, their manager said from the front of the room, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “You can have the rest of the day to review the packages we sent you and start reviewing choreography. We have a full day scheduled, so make sure to get a good night’s sleep.” 

“Yes Hyung,” the seven men parroted, Jackson slowly taking a few steps back towards the door behind him, hand already reaching for the handle long before any of the others started to notice his retreat, Youngjae pulling Mark into conversation when he caught on, giving Jackson a full reprieve to slip from the room as quietly as he came, missing the sad look that settled on the eldest’s face both times he realized the other wasn’t there.

***

“He hates me!” Jackson cried, dropping his head with a loud thunk onto the middle of the table, sighing as he felt hands lift him up to slip a beanie under his forehead before letting him rest back in his misery.

“Deservedly as you keep telling me,” Jooheon pointed out, gently petting at the elder’s hair.

“Don’t stop,” Jackson whined childishly when long fingers disappeared from his hair, humming in contentment when they began to card through his red-brown locks again a moment later. 

“I take it he used to do this for you?” Jooheon asked with a raised brow the other couldn’t see, watching the other man with an amused expression as he waited for an answer, smile slipping into a worried frown when Jackson recoiled as if he had been hit.

“Yeah,” he whispered, words barely audible over the general din of the restaurant they were in, both men tucked into a private booth in the back corner, shifting back after a moment to settle back into Jooheon’s palm. “We’d lie in bed at night and he’d always play with my hair to make me fall asleep.” 

“Well try not to fall asleep on me until after we’ve eaten,” Jooheon replied gently, keeping his voice light in hopes of coaxing more information out of the other who was notoriously tight-lipped when it came to this particular subject matter. “But if you want to go back to yours after and continue this, I’d be more than happy to.”

“You’re a good friend, man.” Looking up, Jackson pouted at the fond look being sent his direction from the other rapper, knowing his friend was both serious in his offer and mocking him simultaneously, a complicated middle ground the other existed best in. “I’m glad you came.”

“Same, it’s been too long. How long has it been now that you’ve been hiding in China?”

“I wasn’t hiding!” Jackson said petulantly, sticking his bottom lip out dramatically. “I was busy.” 

“Mhmm,” Jooheon agreed easily, nodding along as he placed one hand under his chin. “And you just conveniently needed to go to LA for ‘meetings’ when Mark was in Hong Kong for a week back in January? And needed to go to Korea to ‘check your apartment’ the second time you were supposed to be in the same city at the same time on the ‘off chance’ you might bump into him since ‘his’ favourite places are ‘your’ favourite places since you were the one to show them to him? Back when you were talking that is.”

“That was a lot of hand quotations,” Jackson said in lieu of addressing the younger’s point, both men knowing full well that yes, he had in fact been hiding from Mark for those exact reasons and no, he really did not want to talk about it. “Has it really been seven months since we’ve seen each other in person?”

“About that, yeah,” Jooheon answered thoughtfully. “Actually, no. Six. We saw each other at MAMA back in early December.”

“Jooheon, it’s May.”

“Thus my point about you hiding in China,” Jooheon replied lightly, voice more teasing than it had been before. “And now we’ve come full circle.”

“I take it back, you’re a terrible friend,” Jackson whined, dropping his head back onto the table, just barely managing to land on the beanie Jooheon shoved back to protect him.

“There, there Jackson. Just think, if you hadn’t run away you would have for sure bumped into Mark for karmic reasons and probably figured your guys’ shit out by now, oh wait, this was supposed to be encouraging.”

“You’re enjoying this,” Jackson hissed, shooting the younger a dirty look who only grinned wider in response.

“Sure am!” Jooheon replied cheerily. “And anyways, you still haven’t told me, you’re certified best friend, what happened, so I have nothing to go off of here. For all I know he called your dick small and that’s the reason you two have barely spoken for three years.”

“I don’t have a small dick,” Jackson grumbled, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms over his chest, eyeing the younger with a pensive expression as he smiled back at him with a wide shit-eating grin as both men paused while their food was delivered.

“Thank you,” Jooheon directed up towards their server, waiting a beat until he had turned and was several steps away before continuing cheekily, eyes focusing back on Jackson. “I figured you didn’t, what with you sleeping with half the available gay population in Hong Kong and Beijing. Well, the out ones anyways.”

“When did this turn into a ‘let’s point out all of Jackson’s poor decisions’ lunch?”

“When you tried to give yourself a concussion on our dinner table to avoid having to see your ex tomorrow, that’s when.”

“He’s not my ex.”

“He’s not, not your ex either.”

“This isn’t fair,” Jackson cried, throwing his arms up and catching the fork on the edge of his plate and throwing it dramatically into the air, both men watching as it landed several feet away as they fell into a stunned silence.

“Honestly? I’d give that an easy 7 out of 10.”

“Have I told you that you’re a terrible friend recently?”

***

“Okay, spill,” Jooheon demanded as he dropped the elder onto his couch, shaking his head at the sight of him, hair disheveled, clothes askew, cheeks flushed red from exertion and alcohol consumption both.

“There’s nothing to *hiccup* spill,” Jackson slurred, looking up at the younger man with wide pleading eyes.

“Jackson, you use organic toothpaste because you only believe in putting the ‘best of the best’ in your body.”

“Y-your *hiccup* p-point?”

“You drank a keg to yourself tonight. If I hadn’t dragged you away there was about to be an international scene!” 

“W-why *hiccup* inter- *hiccup* -national?”

“I’m not sure you’ve noticed this buddy, but you aren’t actually Korean.”

“What?” Jackson shouted, eyes widening comically. “B-but I *hiccup* sp-speak Korean!”

“Wait for it…”

“OMG I’m not Korean…” Jackson whispered forlornly, bringing one hand up to his face and holding his forehead, then his chin, then his nose in quick succession as if he expected to find an answer there.

“And thus why you getting drunk off your ass and punching that guy you kept glaring at was going to cause an international scene. Who was that guy anyways?”

“N-no one, don’t even k-know him.”

“Mhmm. And let’s play a pretend game where you did know him. Who is he then?”

“Some *hiccup* guy Mark slept with after we….”

“After we?”

“Jooheon,” Jackson started with surprising clarity, completing ignoring what they had just previously been talking about.

“Yes?”

“I miss Mark,” Jackson said, eyes wide, seconds before promptly bursting into tears. 

“Oh boy.” Heaving a sigh, Jooheon joined Jackson on the couch, sitting so the armrest was against one side, other arm splayed over the top of the couch as he waited one, two, three seconds before the elder was crawling across the couch and burying himself into his neck, wrapping his arms around his torso and nuzzling closer, legs joining only a moment later so that the elder was effectively koala’d around him. Sighing once more, Jooheon wrapped his own arms around the smaller man’s body, slipping one arm around his waist and the other into his hair, murmuring softly as he proceeded to try and calm him down, sweet nothing’s meant to make the other feel better.

Looking at the clock on the stove that Jooheon could just barely see from where they sat and then back down at the man in his arms, Jooheon prayed that today was the day Jackson finally opened up about what had happened all those years ago, knowing he desperately needed to talk about it. Either way he thought, looking down morosely, it was going to be a long, _ long _night.

*** 

_ Three Years Previous _

Jackson didn't need eyes to know the way that Mark felt about him, could see it in the lingering stares he felt prickling against his skin, could feel it in the brush of knuckles against his as they stood in a line, could smell it in the scent of Mark that consumed his senses at all hours of the day with their close proximity. Jackson knew this in the same way he knew that sex wasn't just an option for Mark, could hear his voice ringing in Jackson's ears as he told him that things would change if were to take him to bed, that doing so was an admission that what they had was something more.

When it had started, a snap second decision to order _ two _pieces of the jewelry he had been admiring for the last half hour, it seemed only second nature to give the second one to Mark, heart fluttering at the awed look that had settled onto the older man’s features as he received the gift, eyes sparkling with an emotion Jackson wasn’t ready to acknowledge just yet.

The first time Mark returned the gesture, a matching pair of earrings to go with the necklaces Jackson had bought them, Jackson slipped into a shocked silence as he quickly fumbled his current earrings out of their place in his lobes, hands shaking as he took the new ones out of the fancy box they had come in, putting them in delicately before turning to Mark and asking simply, “how do they look?” 

By the end of the first 12 months of _ whatever it was _they were, the pair had matching rings, a bracelet, two necklaces and two pairs of earrings each, along with many, many outfits they wore together at home and many more they shared between them, Jackson eventually switching the terminology in his head from it being “his closet” to “their closet.”

Yet somehow during this time, the pair managed to stay out of each other’s bed, beds meant for sleeping or Netflix binges and a quiet cuddle, clothes always on and boners absent. This wasn’t to say that the pair hadn’t kissed, they had, enough times that the weight of Mark’s tongue against his own was possibly one of his top three favourite feelings, but Jackson knew what sex meant to Mark and sex made it real, so even after all this time, they still hadn’t “done the deed” and Jackson knew it was killing him. And yet, he stayed the course.

The day it changed was the day Jackson got pulled aside and told that under no circumstances were he and Mark allowed to be together, told it would make the company look bad and they expected them both to be adult about it and tone it back. It didn’t matter how they felt about it he was told, didn’t matter whether they loved each other or not, whether they were willing to hide it or not. What mattered was that Korea wasn’t ready for two gay idols, let alone two gay international idols from the same group.

The “your careers depend on it” went left unsaid, though it settled heavily in the back of Jackson’s mind. Later, when he walked into the practice room and saw the smile Mark sent his way, eyes alight with happiness, he knew that the company was making him make the decision for the both of them. Together and jobless, or apart and employed. The decision couldn’t have been easier.

When Jackson told his dad, when he poured his heart out over the phone telling him everything, for the first time in his life he was met with silence, which was the same moment Jackson realized he was well and truly alone when it came to love.

But leaving with only the taste of _ him, _ the memory of _ him, _ the feeling of _ him, _close but never quite there wasn’t enough for him, would never be enough for him.

Mark was love personified, his laugh loud, his eyes crinkled, his happiness apparent.

Jackson was gluttony, greed and selfishness in the form of man.

When Jackson took Mark to bed it was with whispered confessions into his skin.

When Mark awoke it was to an empty bed and a note that read "never again x,” bitter taste in his mouth as he made the decision for the two of them.

***

“They threatened your career?” Jooheon yelled as Jackson finished telling the story, alcohol long having left their system, the pair wrapped in a blanket on the couch, junk food spread on top of them as they sobered themselves up. 

“It’s not my career I care about,” Jackson admitted, turning away to look at the time to avoid seeing any pity in his best friend’s eyes. “They can do what they want with me, but I could never,_ ever _risk his. Not because of an association with me anyways.”

“But answer me this,” Jooheon started around a mouthful of chips, waiting to swallow before he continued. “You guys were in love back then, I know you were because of how many times you told me you loved him at the time. What makes you think he wouldn’t have chosen you over them?”

“That’s the problem.” Turning to look at Jooheon, Jackson waited until he was looking at him fully before he spoke so the younger could see the sincerity in his eyes. “I know without a doubt he’d have chosen me. Would have chosen love over lifelong happiness. I couldn’t let him make that choice, he would have regretted it forever and eventually he’d have come to resent me and there’s nothing less I’d want in this world.”

“And him resenting you because you took him to bed, left the next day and haven’t spoken to him properly in three years is better how exactly?”

“I mean...when you put it like that…”

“How else is there to put it?”

“Jooheon.”

“Jackson,” the aforementioned interrupted, holding his hand up to stop him when he tried to speak again. “Look, I’m not saying I don’t get why you did it and I appreciate your concerns about his career and his happiness, but you’re an idiot. No, stop trying to speak, it’s my turn. You were scared, we both know you were, but the fact that Mark would have chosen you and you chose this opposite tells me that you were more scared you wouldn’t be worth him losing his career over than either of you actually losing your careers. If he even would that is, it could have been an idle threat for all we know.”

“I’m still scared,” Jackson replied quietly, dropping his head over the back of the couch and looking morosely at the stippled ceiling. “I regretted it the moment I left. I actually turned back, came back to the apartment after I got about a block from the building, but when I did he had already woken up and seen the note.”

“So why didn’t you tell him then, you idiot!?” 

“Because the look on his face...I’ll never forget it Joo. I’ve never felt more like a monster in my entire life outside of the realization that I actually was one for even considering doing it in the first place. Don’t you think he deserves better than me just for that alone?” 

“No, no I don’t,” Jooheon replied gravely, voice stony. “I’ve known you for a long time Jacks, seen you growing up these last few years, but I’ve never seen you as happy as you were with him. The day you left his room is the day you left your heart behind for him to hold onto. You haven’t truly been happy in more than three years and now I know why. And I reiterate after all of that, you’re an idiot.”

“I love him, Jooheon.”

“Still?” 

“I never stopped,” Jackson admitted quietly, so quietly Jooheon wouldn’t have heard him if they hadn’t had their legs tangled beneath the blanket. “I don’t think I know _ how _to stop.” 

“You need to tell him why you left Jacks. He deserves to know the truth.”

“It’s been three years Joo, what’s the point of me opening up old wounds?” 

“On the chance that he never stopped loving you too.”

“That’s not possible,” Jackson whispered, words too painful to utter at full volume. 

“I think you’d be surprised,” Jooheon said knowingly, subtly pushing his phone under the blanket, Jackson missing as the call ended. 

“You really think I should tell him?” Jackson asked thoughtfully some time later, looking at his friend to find him already smiling knowingly back, having seen by his face that the elder had held on to the kernel of hope he has provided a few minutes earlier. 

“Yeah. I really, really do Jacks. I really, really do.” 

***

The next morning when Jackson was getting dressed, for the first time in a long time his eyes drifted over to the “forbidden” spot, a box on the side of his accessories cabinet in which he had moved all of “their” jewelry over a few years prior, a few days after he had left Mark behind when he could no longer handle the reminder of what he had done staring him in the face every morning. 

Reaching out and grabbing the box with shaking hands, Jackson slowly opened the lid, feeling the breath leave his lungs as his eyes came into contact with the shining symbols of his former love, reaching in and running his fingers over the inlaid jewels, eyes feeling just a little bit misty as he did. 

Later, when he walked into the conference room at 7:59 the same morning, eyes cast down, he missed the stunned look of surprise that washed over all seven faces of the men in the room, eyes bouncing back and forth between Jackson and Mark, the elder the only person who hadn’t reacted, matching set of earrings sitting comfortably in the lobes there. 

Finally looking up after settling into a chair at the back of the room, noting the silence that had descended upon them, Jackson’s eyes lifted to find Jinyoung gaping at him like a fish, brows furrowing as he looked down the line of his members, across his manager and over to the only other person he had yet to look at, phone dropping out of his hand with a deafening thunk when he caught sight of the same jewelry currently gracing his own ears. 

“Y-you’re wearing them?” Jackson stammered, voice wispy with emotion as he stared at Mark in shock and something else. 

“So are you.” 

“B-but….how? When? Why?” 

Avoiding answering, Mark smiled to himself as he waited to answer, waiting for the tension to build in the room before lifting his arms from under the table, matching bracelet that Jackson was also wearing shining boldly on his wrist. 

“I got this really interesting phone call last night,” Mark started, smiling softly to himself, heart lighter than it had been in years. “It was from a number I figured would only call me if something was seriously wrong so I answered.”

“And?” Jackson pressed, throat going dry as he thought back to the previous night and the gentle illumination on the pillow between him and Jooheon, not thinking anything of it at the time, but wondering now if maybe he should have. 

“The person on the other end had a lot to say. Answered a lot of the questions I’ve had these last few years. I’ll have to make sure to send him a gift basket or something.” Turning to look at him, face open and emotive for the first time in as long as Jackson could remember, Mark waited to make eye contact before continuing, teasing Jackson out with the length he took to continue. “And Jackson?”

“Yeah?” Jackson replied, voice gruff, no one else in the room beside him and Mark, his world focusing in on the other man as he waited.

“I agree with Jooheon. You’re an idiot.” 

“Holy shit,” Jackson gasped, shoving his chair back and running across the room, meeting Mark in the middle who he desperately pulled into his arms, cheeks wet with emotion. “Dimsum….I don’t understand.”

“You were right Mandu,” Mark answered quietly, not pulling away from where he had buried his face in Jackson’s shoulder. “I would have chosen you. I’m still going to choose you. The rest we can deal with later.”

“Mark, I-I can’t let you do that.”

“Good thing it’s my choice this time then, hey?”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying you have a whole lot of making up to do. Three years worth. I expect to be wooed JackJack.”

“I can woo...”

“And gifts Jackson. I expect gifts too.”

“I’m already making a list in my head.”

“You really are an idiot you know that right?”

“Er, yeah,” Jackson conceded, chucking humourlessly. “But for what it’s worth, I’m your idiot.” 

“You always have been Mandu. Always will be too.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! It’s been a pleasure taking part in this fest and it was a fun challenge to write something a little off kilter, especially from where I had planned to go with this versus where it ended up. Enjoy the ride and let me know what you think!


End file.
